Today, as expected, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it has approved a New Mexico horse slaughter plant's application to operate in that state. This marks the first time since 2006 that a horse slaughter plant has been approved to operate in the U.S. The plant will still have to clear state permitting hurdles before opening.

Let there be no doubt that this is a real threat to all American horses -- both wild and domestic -- and we're going to have to band together in the coming weeks and months to make sure our laws better reflect the will of the people on this issue. Polls have found 80 percent of Americans want horse slaughter banned.We're encouraged by recent developments in Congress where language to defund USDA inspections of horse slaughter plants is in both the Senate and House versions of the FY2014 Agriculture Appropriations bill, thanks in part to AWHPC supporters who contacted their representatives on the relevant committees.But we need a long term solution to this problem which is why we've been advocating for the SAFE Act to ban horse slaughter in the U.S. and to prevent the transport of horses out of the US to slaughter plants in Canada and Mexico. If you have not done so yet, please contact your Senators and Congresspersons today to ask them to support the SAFE Act.